The state of social

enterprise in
Bangladesh
Social enterprise activity in Bangladesh is growing.
We set out to quantify social enterprise activity in Bangladesh.
We surveyed 149 social enterprises and found that:

A young social enterprise scene: Social enterprise is growing:

Bangladeshi social enterprises are young and Bangladeshi social enterprises have an average of 22
so are their leaders. full-time equivalent staff and average turnover of
around £21,000 (BDT 2,134,475). Most expect staff

6
numbers and turnover to increase in the coming year.
Average
years in
operation LAST YEAR THIS YEAR

most
under

35
leaders
are aged
53% 53%

3,163 3,291

Women and social enterprise: 47% 47%

Total
A fifth of Bangladeshi social enterprises are led by women
jobs created
– significantly higher than in mainstream business (5%).
full-time equivalent
Women in social enterprises make up 41% of the full-time
equivalent workforce, more than double than in the
general workforce.

41%
43% 47%

20% 3,183 3,388

14%
5% 57% 53%
Of which
are part time
Leaders Workforce actual

Social enterprises Mainstream business

 Growth Growth is set to continue: Most Bangladeshi social enterprises expect their venture to grow and they
have wide-ranging growth plans – particularly expanding into new geographic areas and developing
is set to new products and services, through investment in their teams and by attracting capital to expand.
continue: Two-thirds of Bangladeshi social enterprises hope to replicate or franchise their business models.

GROWTH PLANS BARRIERS

Investing in Attract
Shortage of
our team and 85% 74% investment 36% 28% Cash flow
technical skills
capacity to expand

Attract new Develop and launch

Obtaining
customers 82% 61% new products Capital Debt 35% 26%
grant funding
or clients and services

Understanding/
Expand into Replicate Lack of access to
76% 58% awareness of SE
new geographic or franchising 30% 24% support and
(general public/
areas advisory services
customers)

Sectors Lack of technical skills is seen as the biggest barrier to

The highest proportion of social enterprises work in the
education and seek to promote education and literacy as
key objectives, even if they operate across other sectors.
Many social enterprises focusing on employment
creation as a key objective of their operations.
growth, followed by access to debt finance, lack of
social enterprise awareness and cash flow constraints.
Lack of understanding of social enterprise is seen as a
significant barrier to growth, with a quarter of social
enterprises feeling it is constraining them.

TOP Social enterprises

20%

Lack of technicl skills

is the main barrier
Education Services
32% 26%

MID
Finance and funding
Donations and grants are the most common
sources of funding, with few social enterprises
securing concessional loans or equity. Limited
Manufacturing Retail
6% 5% capital supply is seen as the primary funding
constraint.

LOWER Social enterprises

20%
Infrastructure Housing
development and 1%
maintenance
1%

Based on the very small unrepresentative sampling process,

there may be as many as 150,000 social enterprises currently
operating in Bangladesh, with growth expected.

© British Council 2016 

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.